Mystery Juice
by Ari 347
Summary: Someone should really control Kurotsuchi's experiments. Karin certainly doesn't want to deal with babysitting Captain Hitsugaya! (De-aging)


**A/N:** I found this today on my computer. It's pretty cute, not sure if I'll ever run with the idea, though. It features a super-cute young Hitsugaya! Enjoy!

* * *

Karin cursed silently as she ran through the Senkaimon after Ichigo. _Of course_ Rangiku would decide that there was an emergency an hour before the soccer tournament, forcing Karin to miss it. Not that she had a crush on Toshiro, of course, but Rangiku had said it was an emergency and Karin was Toshiro's friend. Knowing the tenth division fukutaicho, the mini captain would need all the help he could get.

"You okay there, Karin?" Ichigo called over his shoulder.

"Fine, Ichi-nii. I am so going to murder Rangiku when we get there." She followed her big brother out of the gate and landed in Seireitei. "How do we get to tenth division?"

"I guess just follow Toshiro's reitsu. There's no other way I could think of, unless-"

"Ichigo!" Rangiku ran up to them, a worried look on her face. "Karin! Thank Kami you're here! Come on, taicho is in the fourth division."

"Fourth? Is he alright?" Karin asked quickly.

"Well, health-wise, he is, but…You'll see." With that, the strawberry-blonde fukutaicho turned and led the way to fourth.

Karin, Ichigo, and Rangiku were greeted by Unohana at the door to the fourth division. "Is Toshiro okay?" asked Ichigo. "Rangiku said it was an emergency, so…"

"He is healthy, there is nothing wrong with him, however…" Unohana led them to a room and paused by the door. "Captain Kurotsuchi dropped a drug into the tea by the captains' meeting. None of the other captains drink tea quite as much as Captain Hitsugaya, and they were sleeping standing up, and therefore only Toshiro was affected."

"What happened? Does he have an extra head or something?" Karin burst out.

"Not quite. You see, he-" Unohana was interrupted by the door opening.

"No! I don't want to eat that!" a young voice shouted.

Ukitake's voice could be heard from the room, exhausted but patient. "Shiro-chan, it's just snow peas. They're good for you. You'll grow big and strong."

"I am not short! And don't call me that!"

Unohana sighed. "As I'm sure you can hear, Captain Hitsugaya has been turned into a child."

"How old is he?"

"Approximately four or five. Keep in mind that he is a child prodigy and a genius, and is more mature than an average child," Unohana warned.

"I don't care, I'm going in." Karin pushed past Unohana, much to her brother's chagrin, and entered the room. "Toshiro?"

A small white haired child was seated by a table with Ukitake. The child had his arms crossed over his light blue yukata, a scowl on his face. "There you are, Kurosaki. It's your turn to deal with him." The white haired captain escaped the room, not giving Karin a chance to protest.

"Great. I'm stuck with you now." Karin sat down in Ukitake's vacated seat and looked at the mini Toshiro. He stared back at her curiously. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"No. But you don't look as terrible as that other person who was in here." Toshiro pushed the plate of peas away again. "I will not eat those."

"Look, I – "

"Karin? What- Oh." Ichigo poked his head in and saw the situation. "I'm going with Rangiku to beat up Kurotsuchi. Take care of Toshiro. Don't let him escape."

"Ichi-nii!" But it was too late. Ichigo left and Unohana entered the room. "Captain…Unohana, right? What am I supposed to do with him? I don't like kids."

"I have to go check on some of the other patients. You'll have to muddle through on your own." Unohana ruffled Toshiro's hair, making the child squirm. "Behave, Toshiro."

Karin glared at the tiny tot in front of her. "I never thought I would say this, but I think I like you better when you were being snooty to me. This…this is just you being a brat."

"I am not a brat!" Toshiro stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "You're a brat!"

"I thought you were a genius."

"I AM!"

"No, you're just a brat." Karin gave the child a smirk. There was a reason she usually didn't babysit. She just wasn't as sweet as Yuzu. Scratch that, she wasn't sweet or good with kids. "You can just hang out here alone."

"NO!" The child panicked and ran to Karin's side. "Don't leave me here alone. I'll be good. I promise."

"I didn't…mean that, really." Looking down at the top of Toshiro's head, Karin raised an eyebrow. Who knew the child captain had separation anxiety? "I'll stay with you."

Toshiro looked up. "Thank you."

"Now eat your peas."

"NO!"

Karin sighed. It was going to be a long day…

Toshiro pushed the pile of paper and colored pencils away. "I am not a baby. I will not color."

"Then what do you want to do?" Karin massaged her temples with a groan. And she'd thought she was stubborn! The stupid captain refused to do anything. Most of the books were too mature for a five-year-old and the ones Unohana had left were considered too young. It seemed that Toshiro did not like to draw or play with trucks or anything else an average kid would want to do. Karin was stumped.

"I want to go fight. The nasty lady took my sword." Toshiro slid off the chair to the floor and glared at the colorful blocks. "I'm bored. This stuff is for babies."

"You are such a pain!" Finally losing patience after three hours of dealing with the petulant child, Karin stormed over to the door and wrenched it open. "Ichigo! Rangiku! Get your butts over here!"

Ichigo, who'd been talking to Renji down the hall, raced over to his sister. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's WRONG?! I'll tell you what's wrong!" Karin glared at her nii-san. "I've been dealing with a spoiled Toshiro for three and a half hours! You try that! It's – "

A loud wail interrupted them and the siblings ran into the room to find Toshiro sprawled on the floor, clutching his wrist. "What did you do?" Karin shouted.

"Don't yell at him, Karin, he hurt himself." Ichigo knelt down by the sniffling white haired child and held out his hand. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Toshiro nodded and scooted backwards. He fearfully watched Ichigo. "I'm o – okay."

"Let me do it," Karin said. She shoved her brother aside and grabbed Toshiro's hand, ignoring his stifled gasp of pain. "You're fine. You just bruised it."

"Um, Kar – " Ichigo winced as Karin pinched him. "Ow!"

"Shut up, Ichi-nii!" Karin turned back to her little patient and patted his hand. "Ichigo is my brother and he'll go get Captain Unohana to look at it, okay? How about you go read a book for now? And don't stand on the chairs!"

Ichigo watched the kid captain follow Karin's instructions and settle quietly on the couch with a giant tome. "You know as well as I do that his wrist's broken. Why are you lying to him? And why do I have to go get Unohana? You do it, you're the babysitter."

"First of all, you can go do something! I've been here for hours dealing with him!" Karin whisper-shouted. "Second of all, he freaked out when I told him I'd just leave him here alone if he kept being a brat. I'm not leaving him if he'll just panic. And that's why I'm not telling him that he hurt his wrist: I don't want him to freak out on me again."

"Fine. I'll go." Ichigo took a quick look at Toshiro, who was still cradling his injured wrist, and left the room.

Karin sat down beside Toshiro and patted his white hair. Huh. It was pretty soft. She'd never had a chance to touch it because the captain was sensitive about his hair. Not that he had a reason, she personally like its color. It was cool.

Toshiro lay his head on Karin's arm and sighed softly. "What's wrong with me?" he asked quietly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Everyone stays away from me. You wanted to leave, too." He rested his uninjured wrist in his lap, cradling the other hand. "No one wants me. Not even Granny or Momo. She's too busy with Aizen."

"Um…" It took Karin a couple of seconds to figure out what he was talking about. The kid didn't realize that Aizen was already defeated. He only had memories up until this age. "I like you. You can stay with me if Captain Unohana can't fix you."

"Huh? I thought you said my wrist was just bruised."

Karin realized that he didn't know he was supposed to be older. "Nothing."

"Oh. Okay." Toshiro went back to the book, his head still on Karin's arm. Within a couple of minutes, the child was asleep.

Captain Unohana arrived nearly an hour later, Ichigo and Rangiku in tow. Ichigo held a steaming cup of tea. "Kurosaki-chan, how is he feeling?" she asked quietly, trying to avoid waking up Toshiro.

"I don't know. He's really upset, he thinks everyone hates him." Karin looked down fondly at the captain. Huh. She hadn't thought she'd actually like him as a kid. But then again, he hadn't been a typical child. Sure, he'd been a stubborn brat, but he wasn't a wild animal like Jinta (and that was an insult to animals!)

"He believes that, too. He's always been like that," Rangiku replied. She gently caressed his cheek. "Is it really a good idea to have him go back to being an adult? I mean, his normal age?"

"Why not?" Ichigo asked.

"He'll get his childhood. Taicho's convinced his parents abandoned him and he died in a blizzard. Then once he came here he was either bullied or pushed to be his genius self. He's never been a child." Rangiku rested a hand on his cheek as he let out a soft cry. "A nightmare again?"

"No, he fell and hurt his wrist." Karin pointed to his left hand. "I think it's broken. It looks like it, at least."

Unohana knelt down beside the sleeping boy and pulled his wrist from his lap. Toshiro groaned, his eyelids flickering. "I think I shall restore him to his proper age before tackling this. I do not know quite how much he understands and I would prefer to not scare him off just yet."

"Alright." Karin slipped out from beneath Toshiro as the boy yawned and opened his eyes.

"So you're going to have him grow up?"

"Yes, I will. I am not going to leave one of our captains as a child. Head Captain Yamamoto would be quite upset." Unohana motioned for Ichigo to hand her the cup. "Here we go. I had Captain Kurotsuchi prepare an antidote immediately."

Karin decided not to ask what in the world that meant. However Unohana had done it, she probably didn't want to know.

The older captain gently shook Toshiro until he sat up, awake. "Here, Toshiro. Drink this." She held out the cup to Toshiro, who shook his head. "Just drink it. It's good for you."

"So why don't you drink it? It'll be good for you, too." Toshiro tried to cross his arms and winced from the pain in his wrist. "I'll drink it if you drink it."

"Ah, see, Toshiro…" Karin thought quickly and hit upon a solution. "It's only for boys."

"Boys?" he asked, his face scrunching up in thought.

"Yup, just boys." Karin affirmed.

"So he can drink it."

Ichigo shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Not happening. I am not drinking anything from Kurotsuchi, especially not now."

"You will, Kurosaki – kun, if that is what will make Toshiro drink it, too." Unohana fixed the orange-haired Shinigami with a glare that made him tremble. "Just one sip will not affect you."

"Fine." He certainly was not going to contest Unohana. It would probably get him killed. She was tough. Taking the cup from Karin, he glared at Toshiro. "You owe me one, little dude."

Toshiro simply glared back and watched Ichigo take a small sip. After seeing that nothing happened to Ichigo, he held out his good hand for the cup. "Fine. I'll drink it."

"Good." Ichigo gladly turned the drink over to the little captain and crossed his arm.

The four watched as Toshiro drank down the drink and collapsed to the floor. "Is he – " Karin started, but Unohana rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Allow the antidote to work as it is supposed to. I trust Kurotsuchi on this."

After a few minutes, Toshiro stopped shaking and sat up slowly, holding his broken wrist to his chest. "What. The. Hell. HAPPENED?!" he shouted.

"Captain Kurotsuchi tested out his new formula on you and turned you into a child," Rangiku answered nervously. Her captain was not in a good mood at all.

"Where is he?" Toshiro stood up, absentmindedly accepting Karin's helping hand. "I am going to kill that idiot!"

"You shall do no such thing. Your wrist is broken and I will take care of that first." Unohana fixed him with a stern look.

Toshiro shrunk beneath her gaze. "Fine. But after that, Kurotsuchi had better watch his back."

Of that, Karin had no doubt.


End file.
